Chest or the like



Dec. l 1, 1951 s. E. MAUTNER 2,578,644

CHEST OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 7, 1945 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 'INVENTOR` &fet/em E Maznefl ATTORNEYS.

Patentel Dec. 11, 1951 CHEST OR THE LIKE Steven E. Mautner, Port Jervis, N. Y., assignor to Skydyne, Inc., Port J ervis, N; Y., `a corporation of New York Application August 7, 1945, Serial No. &09,439

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in enclosures such as rooms, cabinets and chests and which for convenience will be referred to heren simply as chests and more particularly to the provision of chests adapted to withstand service under adverse condition due to climate, subjection to the action of liquids, vapors and gases, and electricity, and to handling in shipping and storing.

An important object of the invention is to provide a novel and advantageous chest.

Another object is to provide a chest comprising panels supported by an improved frame by which the panels are supported in an improved manner against both inward and outward pressure.

Yet another object is to provide an improved chest of the character described in which the panel provide eective heat insulation and electric shielding.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved chest which is fungus proof and insect proof.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel skids at the top and bottom of each chest whereby waste space between chests in a vertical column will be eliminated and accidental relative movement in a lateral direction will be prevented.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear upon consideration of the following detailed description and of the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a chest constituting one embodiment of thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded View of the chest including perspective Views of the various parts in separated relation but in such relative positions as to indicate the manner of assembling the same;

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a top plan View of a chest according to the present invention illustrating the arrangement of skids at the top and bottom thereof; and

Fig. '7 is a section taken along the line 1-1 of Fig. 6. I r

Referring to the drawings, there is` illustrated a chest which may be considered as built up on a flat bottom or bottom panel I@ of which the edges fit into horizontal grooves ll in the lower parte of frame members Iz provided also with vertical grooves 13 receiving respectively the lower edges of' a front or front panel !4, a back or back panel 2 15, and sides or side panels it. At the upright edges of the chest are similar frame members or posts !2 having grooves i i receiving the side edges' of the front and rear panels or walls M and !5 and grooves !3 receiving the vertical edges of the side or end panels !6. The frame members '12 at the bottom and upright edges are shaped at their ends, as by mitering, to fit together at The frane members !2 are in the form of angles j with the grooves i l and |2 in the fianges thereof. the grooves H being deeper than the grooves !3 and extending across the inner edges thereof but separated therefrom by connecting webs lla.

This construction of the frame members serves to provide strong support of the various panels against either inward or outward pressure. These rame members or angles [2 may be formed by extrusion and may be of metal resistant to corrosion. For example, angle !2 and corners IT may be made of aluminum or of an aluminum` alloy. At both ends of each frame member l2 of? the bottom and at the lower ends of the vertical frame members, the fianges may be cut away with a mitered cut so as to fit together and furnish well formed corners over which the metal corners I'I will fit.

The bottom panel ii) and the upright walls or panels !4, [5 and !6 are preferably of material such as veneer, plywood boards or the like a with the parallel faces thereof covered by sheet material of metal or non-metallic material s and which may be of aluminum which protects the Wood from moisture, vapors, etc. which might cause damage thereto. If the upper edges of the vertical walls or panels were the same as the' other edges thereof, the plywood would be expos ed when the chest is open and subjected to conditions tending to damage the plywood. To avoid this difi'iculty the sheet material !9 is cartransfer the core may be made of balsa Wood i which is light and strong and has good heatinsulating qualities. The frame members l2 and corners il' may besecured to each other .and

the metal-covered plywood boards or plates |8 by means of fastening devices 20 passing through the walls of the grooves ll' and |3 and the edges of the plywood boards or walls IB and secured as by adhesive or by riveting. The sheet material itself is secured to the veneer or plywood panels as by means of adhesves or other bonding material.

The chest is provided with a cover ZI which may be either set on or removed from the top of the chest proper. This cover comprises a panel 22 of plywood co-vered by sheet metal !9 such as aluminum and having its edges fitting into deep grooves lla in frame members Iza which have wide downwardly facing grooves |3a to receive not only the upper edges of the upright panels but the upper ends of the posts !2 connecting the vertical panels. The grooves I3a are provided with a resilient gasket 23 of suitable material such as rubber, enabling a tight seal to be effected between the cover and the upper edges of the upright walls or panels. At the corners of the cover the frame members [Za may be mitered to provide good corners and these corners may be covered by suitable metal corner members l'l.

It will be evident that mere insertion of the edge of a panel in a groove of a frame member would not produce a seal against gases, liquids or vapors. An effective seal at such parts may be eected by inserting scaling material 24 between the edge portions of the panel and the inner surfaces of the correspondng grcoves, as best shown in Fig. 4.

To draw the cover 2l down and press the gasket 23 tightly against the top edges of the upright walls or panels, each frame member Iza is provided with a short metal strap 25 having at its free end an aperture 26` to receive the hook 21 of any suitable tightening device 28 which, may be operated to tighten or open the clamp by swinging a lever 29 down or up.

For convenient handling of the chest, the side panels |6 may be provided with handles 38.

As illustrated in Figs. 6 and '1, another feature of the invention relates to novel skids 3| applied to the tops and bottoms of the chests in a novel manner to economize space and to efiect interlocking between skids on successive chests in a column and thereby prevent a chest from accidental displacement from the top of the next chest below which might at least result in a fall of the upper chest and damage to the chest or other objects, or to persons.

As illustrated the frame members !2 at the bottom of the chest and the rame members Iza of the cover thereof project to substantially the same extent beyond the outer surfaces of the panels o and 22 and the corners l'l and straps 25 may project beyond the frame members. The straps 25 are found only on the cover and sufficient space for them is provided due to engagement between the corners on the top of cne chest and the bottom of the next higher chest. The skids may be of such thickness as to fit between the adjacent panels of two chests of which one is piled on the other; that is, the skids may be of a thickness substantially equal to the sum of the projections of the corners l'i beyond the panels.

The skids are preferably of metal, such as aluminum, and are arranged on the tops and bottoms of the chests sc as to cooperate and prevent-` relative lateral movement. A preferred arrangement is that shown in Figs. 6 and 7, in which there are four parallel rectangular skids 3! arranged in pairs near oppcsite ends of the cover 21, all of the skids being preferably parallel to one' edge of the cover. The skids of each pair may be ofiset and preferably to such an extent that they are just out of either longitudinal or transverse overlapping relation. On the bottom panel of the chest, the displacement of the skids 3! is reversed, and when one chest of this kind is correctly set on another each skid of either upper or lower set will enter a correspcnding angular space of the other set and assure not only correct positioning but prevent relative lateral movement between adjacent chests in a pile thereof. Obviously, the arrangement of the skids may be varied in many ways.

It will be obvicus that chests constructed according to the present invention will have many advantages over pricr forms of chests. For example, the frame of the chest is such as to impart strength thereto and to furnish effective support to the panels against inward or outward pressure. The interior of the panels is of such character as to resist transfer of heat and cold, to assist in producing a light weight but strong chest, and to assist in dampin vibration. The feature of covering the plywood panels with metal sheet material serves not only to protect the surface of the panel but also to shield the chest against electrical action. The special form of the cover tends when closed to hold in position the sides of the chest and thus assure a s-tronger chest, and makes for a better closing because the rubber gasket is held definitely in place. The tting together of the panels and the frame members in both the body of the chest and the cover and the use of scaling material in the grooves of the frame members tend to render the chest vapor proof, moisture proof, waterproof, fungus proof and insect proof.

It should be understood that various changes may be made and that certain features may be used without others, without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

A chest or the like having a top panel and a bottom panel, framing means for holding the edges of said panels and prcjecting from the cute suraces of said panels, whereby said panels will be depressed below the edge framing means and when one chest is stacked on top of another the framing means of the bottom chest will be contacted by the framing means of the top chest so that the top chest will be supported on the framing means of the bottom chest and there is a substantial space between the top of the lower chest and the bottom of the top chest, skid means for holding the chests against sliding comprisin a pair of elongated blocks secured to the top panel of the bottom chest, said blocks being arranged substantially parallel to each other in offset relation and corners adjacent each other so that there are two pairs of right angular arranged abutment faces, corresponding faces being generally in line with each other and the two pairs of faces being generally at right angles to each other, the bottom of a chest to rest on the bottom chest having a corresponding pair of blocks ar'anged as aforesaid and on the bottom of the top chest and positioned to engage corresponding abutment faces of the first mentioned blocks, a second set of blocks on the bottom and top panels and spaced from the other blocks and arranged the same as the first set of blocks, whereby the abutment surfaces on each pair of blocks on the, bottom panel will contact adjacent surfaces on the ccrresponding' 5 blocks of the top panel so as to hold saii chests against slidin off in any direction, all of said blocks being of a thickness to fit between said top and bottom panels so that the top chest is carried by the frame means of the lower chest and not by the top panel thereof.

STEVEN E. MAUTNER.

` file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date O'Hara June 3, 1884 Number Number Number Name Date Kauffmann Jan. 14, 1913 Andrews Apr. 1, 1913 Schleicher Nov. 10, 1914 Lundin Aug. 11, 1925 Woodson May 3, 1927 Scarlett May 28, 1929 Burbank et al Nov. 18, 1941 Smith May 9, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1896 Norway Oct. 15, 1928 Great Britain Apr. 24, 1924 

